Middletown announces six projects to be funded by $10M state grant

MIDDLETOWN – Refurbished building facades, a rail trail spur gathering place, a new park and better parking lots are all coming soon to downtown Middletown.

Those were among the six projects Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that state officials permitted the city to fund with a recent $10 million revitalization grant from the state. In July, Middletown and nine other municipalities beat out other applicants throughout the state in the grant competition.

Hochul joined local leaders to announce how Middletown will spend the money Thursday morning at the Paramount Theatre.

“Years from now, you’ll look back and say, ‘That was the jackpot day for this community,’ when you were told you wouldn’t have to spend decades piecing together this money,” Hochul said. “You’re going to say, ‘2017, under Andrew Cuomo, this is the year we made our comeback.' ”

Upcoming projects include:

n Redeveloping the vacant North Street Woolworth’s building into a Rail Trail Commons – an ongoing effort requiring roughly $1.75 million. The renovated Woolworth’s will feature new retail space, and the building’s center will become a covered corridor that will eventually connect a new Heritage Trail spur to the downtown.

n Converting an empty downtown lot into Erie Way Park – a 1.5-acre community green space with a 2,000-square-foot pavilion and public art. The park will sit beside a 10,000-square-foot concrete skateboarding playground currently under construction.

n Creating a matching grant program to help existing businesses improve their facades and signs.

n A rebranding project to attract businesses and residents, including navigational signs, electronic displays, informational kiosks, a website and social media.

n Upgrading the James Street, Henry Street and courthouse municipal parking lots and their surrounding areas with new landscaping, better lighting and more user-friendly circulation patterns. Parts of the James Street lot will be converted to green space, a small park will be created adjacent to Thrall Library, and a new green path will link the Heritage Trail between North Street and Erie Way Park.

“Our (state) government is changing things – from the property tax cap to shared services to reducing the cost of government through consolidation and sharing, and reviving our downtowns – and it’s working,” Middletown Mayor Joe DeStefano told the crowd.

DeStefano warmly thanked Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, who the mayor said delivered when other county officials hadn’t after Middletown’s leaders spent years lobbying them to help connect the city to the Heritage Trail.

A beaming Neuhaus, who warned that he’s on call for his wife Rachel to give birth, followed DeStefano by telling Hochul, “Lieutenant governor, you’re a rock star. I’ve never seen someone here as much as you and the governor.”